Staff Development Policy and Procedures September 2002

Transcription

1 SOAS UNIVERSITY OF LONDON Staff Development Policy and Procedures September 2002 All staff development activity feeds into the School s HR Strategy and is regularly monitored by Staffing Committee and the Staff Development Advisory Group. MISSION STATEMENT SOAS is committed to encouraging, supporting and delivering training and development for all staff throughout the School to aid each department and the organisation as a whole to meet its objectives thereby assisting the School to remain competitive and highly effective in the higher education market. POLICY 1. Policy Statement Only development that is deemed to be entirely work-related and which will be to the benefit of the department or organisation will be supported by central staff development funds. 2. Staffing Staff Development lies within the Human Resources Department. Currently based in room 109 at the Russell Square site, it is staffed by: Staff Development Manager Jo Price, extn. 4128, jp32@soas.ac.uk, postal deliveries to: room G12 Staff Development Assistant Sonia Robinson, extn. 4123, sr44@soas.ac.uk, postal deliveries to: room G12 3. Explanation of staff development Staff training and development is a means to ensure an organisation s workforce is adequately equipped with the knowledge, skills and competencies to perform well in their current work-role and for the future to assist the organisation, in this case SOAS, in achieving its objectives. This may be achieved in a number of ways e.g. attending events, coaching, mentoring, shadowing, one-to-one work. It is important that access to development is fair, equitable and must be to the benefit of the department and the organisation. 4. Aims The Staff Development function aims to provide comprehensive advice, guidance and development opportunities for all SOAS staff in order to support the organisation in the attainment of its objectives.

2 5. Objectives The objectives of the Staff Development function for the period September 2002 July 2004 are as follows: To undertake a School-wide needs analysis, via managers, of all departments Once needs have been identified, to prioritise these and provide opportunities to fulfil them either in-house or externally To develop an in-house programme of activity for both pedagogic and non-pedagogic development activities, based on the results of the needs analysis, needs arising from Review and other organisational data received. To establish a Staff Development Advisory Group consisting of a range of individuals from both an academic and non-academic background. This group will monitor all activity and will advise on certain aspects of School-wide staff development issues e.g. Learning and Teaching, Professorial mentoring etc. To support staff affected by restructuring To communicate training and development opportunities School-wide in paper and electronic formats To offer a comprehensive management development programme for managers at all levels (including Deans and Chairs of Departments), including certain mandatory elements To review the School s current induction process To work collaboratively with local Bloomsbury universities where there is a perceived benefit to all organisations concerned. 6. Responsibilities for staff development The Staff Development Section is centrally responsible for providing advice, guidance and opportunities for staff, based on information received. It is also responsible for evaluating all centrally funded events to ensure they are cost-effective and to the benefit of the organisation. The Staff Development Section will fully administer all events. Managers are responsible for identifying development needs and encouraging their staff to participate in development activity at probation, review or during other activities. Managers must agree any activity and sign request forms allowing this to proceed and agreeing the time away from work. On completion of the event, it is expected that managers will facilitate the dissemination of the new learning in the workplace, as appropriate, either through the individual or in the context of a team learning event. Individuals are responsible for identifying and suggesting learning opportunities to their managers based on their current job descriptions and career aspirations. A Request for Development form must be completed by the individual and passed back to their manager for completion. It is the individual s responsibility to ensure that the form is passed back to staff development. Individuals will be expected to behave appropriately at any learning event and to fill-in an evaluation form on completion that may be subsequently forwarded to their line manager for information. The Staff Development Advisory Group will monitor and advise on all staff development activity aiming to ensure equity and fairness throughout.

3 PROCEDURES 7. Entitlement The School recognises that all staff whether full-time, part-time or fixed-term are entitled to access development opportunities. All staff at the School, whether full-time, part-time, fixed-term or temporary are entitled to access the School s central induction programme. Access to development is at the line manager s discretion and the discretion of the Dean/ Head of service department who will aim to ensure equality of opportunity throughout the whole department. Where the development requires funding over 500, agreement must be sought only from the Dean/ Head of service department. Development activity will be monitored by the Staff Development Manager and the Staff Development Advisory Group aiming to ensure fairness and equity of treatment under the policy. 8. Requesting Staff Development All requests for staff development, including IT training, must be received on forms SD1 or SD2 with a justification statement and with a supporting management signature. Form SD1 is to be used for all internal events and external short courses. Form SD2 is to be used for all requests for supported study e.g. professional qualifications Requests by or verbal requests cannot be accepted as formal requests. Any requests received without an authorising signatory will be returned to the applicant. Development events can be requested for individuals, teams and departments where it is deemed appropriate. 9. Staff Absence Requiring Cover Where attendance of an individual at an event will require staff cover, Deans/ Heads of service departments are encouraged to speak to Human Resources about issues relating to the cover of the staff member whilst away from work. The Staff Development Section will not be able to provide any additional resources for staff cover. 10. Charging for Staff Development Activity All staff development provision funded by the SFI initiative will be available at no cost to the individual staff member or his/ her department, where this is deemed by the line manager to be for the benefit of the department and the School. The Staff Development Section additionally holds a central budget of funds for external activity. Where departments have no budget for staff development, staff will be able to access central funds at no cost where there is a perceived benefit to the department and the organisation. Contractor staff, subject to agreement, may access central provision for a fee, where spare places exist on in-house courses. However, this must be in agreement with their relevant Human Resources staff. See separate statement on contractor staff working at the School, available from Ken Martin in Estates.

4 11. Cancellation of events Failure to attend an event or where a staff member has to withdraw or cancel their place (either internal or external) leading to a cost for the School, will be investigated by the Staff Development Manager and a charge will be incurred by their department, unless there are exceptional circumstances. 12. SOAS courses Please see the Fee Remission policy, available from Human Resources 13. Appeals Where an application for development is not successful, an individual may appeal to the Director of Human Resources. 14. Funding for External Courses All requests for short external courses must be made on form SD1 with full supporting documentation. Full costs must be included on this form and if the request is successful, only these costs will be paid. Any additional costs will have to be met by the individual or the department. Staff are required to select London venues wherever possible. The Staff Development Section will arrange all course bookings, but all travel & accommodation requests, must be arranged by the individual with Dzidra Stipnieks, Marketing Officer, extension 4081, ds6@soas.ac.uk. Staff are requested to travel by the cheapest methods wherever possible. Only travel over and above that usually paid to travel to work will be funded. Full details on travel and accommodation booking are available from Dzidra. 15. Funding for Accredited Courses All requests for Supported Study for accredited courses must be submitted on form SD2 with full supporting documentation. Staff are advised that only external accredited courses that are deemed to be workrelated, and which will enhance the individual s performance to the benefit of the Department and the School, will be considered for funding. Managers are required to monitor progression of their staff undertaking accredited courses. Where staff are struggling in their course, managers should approach the staff development section to discuss the need for further assistance. Staff are encouraged to explore at least three different providers of the course they wish to pursue, before requesting funding. These possibilities should be discussed with the line manager or the Staff Development Section, who will be able to advise on the most appropriate course of study. Staff are discouraged from pursuing a course involving full or part day-release. However, where no other provider can be sourced, release will be dependant on the Dean/ Head of service department s agreement. In this instance, Deans/ Heads of service departments are encouraged to speak to Human Resources about the feasibility of offering a flexible-

5 working arrangement and issues relating to the cover of the staff member whilst away from work. Funding offered to individual staff for supported study will be 100%. The Staff Development Section will arrange all course bookings, but all travel & accommodation requests, must be arranged by the individual with Dzidra Stipnieks, Marketing Officer, extension 4081, Staff are requested to travel by the cheapest methods wherever possible. Only travel over and above that usually paid to travel to work will be funded. Full details on travel and accommodation booking are available from Dzidra. All approved requests for accredited courses will be confirmed in writing and subject to the following conditions: All applicants, other than in exceptional circumstances, will have completed their probationary period before applying for financial assistance for an accredited course. The funding received will be in the form of a loan which will have to be repaid to the School in the event of the individual leaving within a two year period following the completion of the course. Repayments will be calculated on a pro-rata basis. 100% repayment will be expected if an individual leaves within 6 months of completing the course, 75% within one year of completion, 50% within 18 months of completion and 25% within the two year period. The terms of the loan cease after this two year period. The School may not be able to fund any repeat parts of a course following failure to complete. In this instance, a written statement will be required from the individual or manager for consideration by the Staff Development Manager. The School will fund travel and, where appropriate, accommodation for a course. However, all costs must have been included on the form SD2. Once funding has been agreed at a set cost, additional funding will not be possible. The School will not pay for membership of professional bodies or pay for any books or additional resources required for a course. Funding for a course will only be agreed on an annual basis. Funding for a second or subsequent year of a course will depend on the funds available for staff development within the School at that time and an acceptable level of progress in the first year. 16. Study & Examination Leave Staff who are sitting examinations following completion of a work-related course that has been funded by the School are entitled to take one day s paid leave for each day they sit an examination. In addition, staff may take one day s paid study leave for each examination. All study and examination leave is granted in addition to annual leave entitlement, but must be agreed by the Dean/ Head of service department and a record of this leave sent to Human Resources. Staff who apply for study or examination leave for a course which is not School funded will not be eligible for study leave and must use their annual leave.

6 17. Payment of Membership Fees The Staff Development Section will not pay any membership fees for staff wishing to join professional associations. 18. Conference Attendance Where a department has a budget for conferences or staff development, the Staff Development Section will be unable to offer funding. Academic conferences in the staff member s relevant field of expertise will not be funded by staff development as funding exists within each Faculty for this activity. Only conferences directly related to duties and responsibilities expected to be performed by an individual can be funded. Where a department has no conference budget, requests may be made to staff development, subject to availability of funds. A maximum of two places per conference may be funded by staff development. Any other places will have to be funded by departments. 19. Recommendations In order to plan a co-ordinated approach to departmental training and development activities, departments should use the training plans available centrally from staff development. Advice and guidance on how to use these planners will be available. It is suggested that one person in each department, probably a manager, acts as a training and development representative. This person should meet with the Staff Development Manager to discuss developments against plans and receive advice and guidance on how best to proceed. Training on how to be a rep will be offered centrally.